A beautiful day in the neighborhood

I was browsing around the McLendon's nursery this week, a place I have no business going considering I'm on the twelve-step program to give up plant buying.  Ha ha. So many temptations, it was kind of like popping into a tavern, just to "have a look around."

Anyway, mini dish gardens are in style, and they had the most adorable bowls selling for 50 and 60 dollars!  I wanted one in the worst way. I figured I could make it myself for a fraction of the price, with all extra plants and pots I have at home.  I'd just need to buy a few fillers (rationalization) and next thing I knew, there I was at the cash register with a box full of succulents and an expensive tiny shrub.  But it turned out adorable in this great old bonsai pot--  not a fairy garden exactly, but a miniature garden world.  Perhaps it's true, that women revert to little girls again when they get old.

It is beautiful in Seattle this morning.  The sun is coming up in a perfectly blue sky, and it will be 80 by afternoon.  I just watched a lazy raccoon stroll by and scratch his posterior on a garden stake. Time to get mine in gear.

A pout is a pout...

That special look, when Nova hears she can't watch her "Frozen" DVD this very minute. So cute!  Some things never change.  And I wonder what someone told this little girl?

Painting by John George Brown

Chickadees rule

The common house sparrows have been nesting in this box on the shed for a few decades now, raising several broods each year.  I've never cleaned it out like you're supposed to, and it sits directly in the afternoon sun. Hot and dirty, but sparrows aren't fussy.  They're also aggressive and have always claimed that territory.

When it comes to competition among cavity nesting birds, pretty much everyone kicks chickadees out, including bumblebees. So it was a surprise this spring to see them hanging around the sparrow's corner of the yard, noisily courting in the plum tree and checking out the old box.   Not a sparrow in sight.  I did a little research, and apparently this is quite unusual, although chickadees will sometime build on top of other bird's nests, like this Black-capped Chickadee nest on top of a Tree Swallow nest.

What else is unusual this week?  No rain in the forecast, and 80 degrees plus promised for Thursday.  We'll believe it when we see it!

Easter egg hunt

I have to share this stinkin' cute picture, posted on the front page of the Methow Valley News.   It's Nova with her friends Adelina and Wylie, taken last weekend at the Pearrygin Lake park community Easter egg hunt.

April showers

Back of the Wind

Frank Pape

February-to-April 2014 is now the wettest on record in Seattle, with almost 20 inches as of yesterday, and more on the way. The old record was 18.97 inches set in 1972.  It's chilly too, and I heard this morning that Crystal Mt. Ski Resort has a foot of new snow and is reopening for spring skiing.

Last weekend was fun but busy with a long drive on each end, so I'm looking forward to being home.  No concert, no opera, no sports. Maybe I'll duck outside between showers and do a little gardening.  Or maybe not.

There's a big, bargain Easter ham in the fridge to cook. It's so cold that cheesy scalloped potatoes (a Christmas tradition around here) sounds pretty good.  So much for "lite" summer food! Good thing I have plenty of elastic waist sweat pants in my winter wardrobe.

Here's a relaxing rain video from Scott Sistek's weather blog.
 

Queen Creek Olive Mill

Thanks, Tammy for the fresh pasta and olive oil from Arizona.  In this house the pasta usually comes out of that blue box, and the olive oil from a Costco jug.  With a few shrimp from the freezer, dinner was ready in a jiffy last night.

 

A garden in the rain

Green is the prime color of the world, 

and that from which its loveliness arises.

Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Oh, it is wet and chilly again, with rain in the forecast for the entire week. But perfectly, absolutely green in Seattle.

It's too soggy to weed the flower beds and I'm not working outside much like I usually do in April.  I'll pay for it later, or maybe that seven yards of compost mulch will keep the riff-raff tamped down.  Time will tell. The tulips are almost finished and with all the fuss with the hedge, we haven't had much time to admire the beautiful things happening around here.

The old standard "A Garden in the Rain" has some of the prettiest song lyrics ever written. The song was first published in 1928 and the Four Aces made a popular recording in the 1950's, but that high harmony kind of puts my teeth on edge.  (Sorry, Four Aces.)  Sarah Vaugh's version is beautiful of course, and in 1997 Diana Krall recorded it. You can listen to all of these and more on YouTube.

But in my opinion, the sweetest version is still the original, recorded by Gene Austin in 1929.

Easter fun in the Methow Valley

The early morning egg hunt is on.

Someone was pretty excited!

Maya is a quick learner.

Big sister was a good teacher.

Easter smiles.

The bunny pose!

Fancy outfits.

A little quiet time with Nana.

Nova and Grandpa.

Spring is here!

It's Easter

I love Easter. Egg decorating, hidden baskets, chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, church services, delicious food.  Amanda has a local Methow Valley leg of lamb ready to cook for dinner. What a treat!  Oh yea, and she also mentioned I'll be responsible for making it.  Well, also a treat to be in the kitchen with little girls underfoot.  We're headed East for the holiday, so watch for some new photos next week.

Happy Easter. The beautiful white blossoms of the lily symbolize purity, hope, and life -- the spiritual essence of Easter and all the promises of Spring.  The Easter lily symbolizes God calling his Son home with a trumpet.

 Elizabeth Sonrel

Untitled

Elizabeth Sonrel

Untitled

Alphonse Mucha

Madonna of the Lilies

Charles Courtney Curran

Lotus Lilies

Abbott Fuller

Pond Lilies

John Singer Sargent

Lily Rose

Alphonse Mucha

Lily Tile

John Singer Sargent

Garden Study of the Vicker Children

Marian Grant Smith

Lily Red

Diego Rivera

Lily Vendor

Charles Aston Collins

Convent Thoughts

Vegetation Alert

Before

After

My encounters with fly-by-night yard services and weird hedge-trimmers have been well documented on Feathers and Flowers.   You would think this blogger could find nothing else to write on the subject?  HA!

Just when our hedge recovered from being gutted, slashed and gouged, just when it was starting to look disciplined and pretty again, imagine our surprise receiving a rude "Vegetation Alert" flier in the mail from the City of Seattle.  Not a citation exactly, but I guess if you ignore the warning long enough (that period not specified) The Seattle Department of Planning and Development, Code Compliance Division can enforce the Weeds and Vegetation Code Violation with "$150 or $500 citations."  That is rather a big spread, so I suppose the fine depends on the offensiveness of your vegetation.

Now, Seattle doesn't have the resources to police vegetation on every sidewalk in town.  We were apparently ratted out by a citizen or some unknown neighbor who in passing by, noticed that the base of our hedge extends a few inches over the sidewalk.  The impressive thing is, this person went to the trouble to report our address to The City of Seattle. Who wants to call the City of Seattle for any reason??  Well, maybe you can text or email your complaints now.

Anyway, I've lived here since 1980.  We pay hefty property tax. Our garden is beautiful. Neighbors know us.  I came of age in that 60's hippie decade of protests and standing up to "The Man," so this annoying piece of paper didn't exactly make me jump to attention. I figured we would just do the minimum, and think about it the next time we had the hedge trimmed. 

 Story continued next door...

Then we found out our neighbor across the street, whose hedge is painstakingly, lovingly hand-sheared like a pet poodle had received the same notice.  I guess some folks are just more law abiding than others, and they immediately attacked their beautiful laurel.  Being do-it-your-selfers, they've been laboring away outside and as they work, every curious passer-by on our busy street hears about the outrageous city Vegetation Alerts we both received.

The story is told and then everyone glances over at our non-complying hedge, shaking their heads.  (I see this from the kitchen window, because I've become such a Nosy Parker.)  So, the cat was out of the bag.  Nothing like peer pressure and public shame to get a person motivated.

From lemons we make lemonade.  It gave me a reason to call Colin, the sweetest arborist in the world (who BTW I have a crush on) from Ravenna Arborists. He came to my rescue after that cowardly arborist abandoned the hedge job a few years ago.  In a few hours, it was done. We don't mess around here.  He didn't touch the inside of course, so my view this morning is exactly the same.  As Colin says, "Laurel always grows back."  And as John says, "We don't have to look at it from the street."
So much for curb appeal.

Before

After

The question of the day:  Is it better to be ugly and compliant, or beautiful and defiant?

Cheeseballs

You can bet it's a dull morning in Seattle when I resort to my "Weird and Wacky Holidays" calendar. April 17th is National Cheeseball Day. I needed something to take my mind off the pouring rain.